SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER ACHIEVES EXCELLENCE

San Juan County Communications Authority has successfully completed the intensive 20-step process to re-accredit as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE). The communication center is the 194th emergency dispatch center in the world to attain International Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (IAED™) status as an ACE for its use of the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®). This distinction places it among the very highest-performing emergency dispatch agencies on the planet.

Tandra Malcom, the agency’s Operation’s Manager who guided the agency through the re-ACE process, is pleased by the achievement. As she explained, the distinction took three months to achieve, with plenty of dedicated people at the forefront and behind the scenes of this effort.

Malcom said, “San Juan County Communication Authority prides itself in giving the very best care to the citizens of San Juan County. We have the best employees and they strive every day to process calls accurately and timely. ACE provides the guidelines to ensure we meet this goal.”

ACE Inspires agencies to perform superior, up-to-date public care and to employ efficient use of resources when handling all emergency call situations. An accreditation lasts three years. In order to achieve re-accreditation, agencies must meet or exceed the same standards required in the initial accreditation, which requires participation from everyone in the department. Because ACE agencies abide by these standards and have fulfilled these requirements, callers can have peace of mind knowing their needs will always be appropriately addressed and that they will receive the help they need.

Just as it does for the initial accreditation, the Academy’s Board of Accreditation reviews the center’s application and documentation of the Twenty Points. “There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into re-accrediting as an ACE,” said IAED President Jerry Overton. “We’re certainly proud of San Juan County Communications Authority’s dedication to this process.”